Ferragosto in Rome
 

In Italy next August, ending with a few days in Rome and currently planning on heading home on August 15th. I know see that is Ferragosto, and wonder if we should stay an extra day or two to see how that is celebrated in Rome... good idea?

Definitely not. It's not a celebration. It's an exodus. Almost every business closes down, and almost all of the people go to the beach. If they are not near the beach, they go to the mountains. Anything to escape the heat. Ferragosto is not a celebration. It's a day where every body takes a day off of work, and heads out of town, often for the rest of the month. Leaving on the 15th is going to be a nightmare. It's the worst day of the year to travel, because everyone is traveling somewhere. It's possibly the only time to consider staying at an airport hotel the night before the flight. Or, stay the extra day or two not to celebrate Ferragosto because there are no festivities, but because travel will be much easier than the 15th.

You won't starve in Ferragosto, but the businesses more likely to be open are the ones you want to avoid anyway since they mostly cater to tourists.
Rome is also noticeably hotter than the coastline, hence a classic full day out wandering means literally soaking, not only in culture.

In a nuthell, go ahead if it's a day stop, not the end of the world.

But I wouldn't specifically plan it in Ferragosto for the sake of it.
And IMO this is valid for the whole Italy in that 2 weeks, since the crowd and prices where holidaymakers roam are simply not worth it.

Train travel is very busy on Italian holidays. Take a cab to the airport and get out as planned. Rome doesn't totally shut down, but a lot of people leave for the coast, and staying in Rome that day likely won't be anything special.

It depends on the day of the week Ferragosto lands on. This year, 2016, it landed on a Monday so everyone made it a 3-day weekend and took off on Saturday the 13th. The trains were packed and traffic was at a standstill that day, and on the 15th the trains and roads were empty because everyone had already left.

I wouldn't change my flight to stay in Rome to "see" Ferragosto. I also wouldn't decide how to get to the airport 9 months ahead of time. In 2017 Ferragosto is on a Tuesday. When you get to Rome or a few weeks before hand, get a sense of things. Your hotel can help with that. I suspect that most people will take Monday the 14th off, and make it a long weekend by leaving on Saturday the 12th, and traffic won't be too outrageous on the 15th.

However, if the exodus hasn't already happened, and 3 million romans are leaving on the 15th, the trains will be crowded, but taking a taxi will be worse. Trains don't sit in ten mile long traffic jams like cabs will.

My suspicion is that most people are going to leave on Saturday the 12th, and the trains and highways will be reasonably moveable on the 15th.

I think there are too many unknowns to tell you what to do 8 months before. As Ferragosto approaches, more information will come out. Just don't change your flights for it. Do be attentive about how you are going to get to the airport. You do not want to be in a car during the height of Ferragosto traffic whether it's the 12th or the 15th. It's better to sweat it out on a train for 40 minutes than to be bumper to bumper traffic for hours.

I would never recommend missing a last night in Rome, but if the day of your flight out is the day when the exodus takes place, train is better than taxi, and staying at the Hilton at the airport the night before might be best. http://www.italymagazine.com/italy/t...ays-ferragosto

When the trains are very busy for the holidays, the autostrada are in the same predicament.

This might be helpful if you decide to stay on the 15th. Katie Parla will probably update it for 2017.
http://katieparla.com/where-to-eat-in-rome-in-august/

Yeah but I'd rather be in a town car on the way to FCO than packed ... to ankles on the Leonardo Express!

That's the problem. If it is the day when in group think, everyone decides to leave, you will be in a traffic jam that can take hours to get to the airport. With 5 million cars on the road on exodus day, assuming 2 passengers per car (probably a very low estimate), ten million, or more than one out of six people living in Italy will be on the highway that day. It is the mother of all traffic jams when you get stuck in that. That's why I'd pay attention, and consider a late train or cab to the Airport Hilton if it looks like I'm going to get stuck in that.

Good points. FWIW, my last Ferragosto in Italy was back in 2011 and Rome was pretty dead with travel being pretty smooth. The calendar tells me it fell on a Monday that year. I do all that I can to not be in Italy over the summer these days, but with my daughter starting school next year, I might be doing summers again.

I spent this past July in Rome. It wasn't bad at all. It's certainly better than Ferragosto.

Actually, the ferragosto is one of the few things that distinguishes Greeks and Italians: in our country everybody has left by August 14, 10 pm. But Rome being in Italy and not Greece, I would also choose the Fiumicino Hilton for the last night. And walk to check-in earlier than usual.

many thanks to all for excellent advice
 

So, we won't bother changing plans to add extra days in Rome after Ferragosto; currently looking at a 17h flight out on the 15th, so not too worried about getting to the airport from the city... not sorted a hotel yet, but I'll heed the advice about leaving enough time to travel.

Will add a day or two on the front of the holiday for Naples instead ;)